27 fans and 3 dehumidifiers

We had been told to expect lots of rain Friday, Sept 21 and Sat the 22nd.  We waited, and waited and waited some more.  It was expected by noon, then by 2 etc.

We finally got some sprinkles as I was going to bed Fri nite about 9-9:30.
Slept just fine.

When I woke at 2 as I usually do for just awhile to check the plumbing, I stepped on soppy wet carpet.  I don't know anything that will wake you up faster than stepping out of bed into SOG.

I wandered around the house wondering where the water had come from.  Sky lights were fine, I found no ceiling leaks, but the water was in half the living room, kitchen, hallway to my bedroom, again half of my bedroom, by outside wall, and my closet.  I got out every towel we own and spread them out on the floors to sop up what was there.

cardboard rolls from batting- L and I use as swords- they got wet but are drying.

 Discovered that while the towels were sopping up some, they were not going to fix the problem.

I goggled water removal companies about 6 am and talked to several who promised to come tomorrow (Sunday)-- they were already "swamped" with customers.  I called until I found one company who said they could be at our house between 10-12 this morning.  We mopped and sopped and waited--- Ten came and went,  Twelve came and went- we called the company and they weren't answering.   Called a "restoration" company who was busy, but said they would be finished with their current job about 7pm and would come.  They at least kept in touch by phone, but they showed up at 8:30 pm to do 2-3 1/2 hours work.

Their machine which was in the truck outside removed lots of the water in the carpet, they used a meter/gauge thingy which penetrated the walls telling them just where the wall board had gotten wet-- these they marked with greenish tape.  Before they left they brought in 3 huge dehumidifiers to put around the house which will suck water from the air and dump it via an attached hose in the sinks in the house.

 Huge means larger than a dorm fridge.

They were out of fans, but said they would bring fans the next morning (Sunday) to assist in the drying out process.

I was at worship when they brought the fans and rechecked the wall board.  When I got home they were packing up their truck and trailer.  Left in the house- going at full blast- are 27 (twenty seven) fans.

Hall to bedroom

5 fans between living room and kitchen

Four fans blowing in my closet

 The noise is deafening.   This equipment is situated in the kitchen, the living room, the hall, my bedroom and my closet.  We're camping on the "dry" side of the house.  When we walk through to get something we have to step over multiple large colorful plastic fans.




Cat hates this and refuses to come in the house,  I'm thinking it's not just the blowing air, but also the roar--of all the machines that are trying to dry out carpet and walls.   He stays in the garage and cries LOUDLY when he wants some attention. 

He's been eating outside and when taken into a "dry" room with no equipment, he walks around, sniffing and then cries to be let out.  One of the few times I've ever felt sorry for "the meanest cat in Arlington. His world is not right!

Valley of Peace and Light of the Valley

Before leaving the hotel, we tried to shower but the water system in the city was messed up.  No clue what happened, but there was a trickle in the bathroom sink as well as in the bathtub.  Not feeling especially clean and fresh, we had a quick breakfast and met our  guides from Pathlight, an organization which exists to help students to attend high school (it is not free, here).  At the end of the day, we were given a tour of their office where students whom they mentor and subsidize were working on homework via computers which they do not have at home.

The plan was to go first to the school in Valley of Peace.  After driving about 30 minutes, we arrived at the Assembly of God Valley of Peace school where we met Jesus Catzim, the brand new principal .  He was very courteous, listened to our proposal and told us that he had no information about the community because he was so new to the area.    We thanked him for his time and interest and after taking water samples, and looking at a possible place for an installation.

resorvior for Valley of Peace water

We turned around and traveled back thru Belmopan going the other direction heading to Light of the Valley community (school and Baptist church)

We met with the Principal and Vice Principal for awhile.  Our Pathlight guide had met here before about Living Waters and we were treated very courteously.  We took a tour of a possible installation site and saw where the water came into the campus.

The room we could use as a filtration site.

 I took water samples for testing and we left the administrators with my contact information.  I felt really good about this site.

water faucet between buildings- white doors are bathrooms

I took one minute videos of the rooms at each site, which I can share with whomever wants to see them.


A week after we visited there, I wrote each principal, thanking them for their hospitality, wishing them a good school year and asking if they had had an opportunity to talk to community members about our proposal.  I received responses from each one and felt encouraged about the possibilities ahead.

Thanks for an interesting trip, Kelly, Ken, Greg, Cathy, Bo, Doug and Laura!

Exploring the area

Harry Staley and I had planned to go in search of a place for Westminster to install a system on Monday and Tuesday, but Monday was the first day of school and both places we were scheduled to go were schools, so we waited until Tuesday to go looking.

The Kentucky group was finished with their installation and had a free day, so on Monday, we all headed out to look at another installation they had done and to visit Jaguar Creek Resort.

We've been traveling in a 14 passenger van with the back seat removed to haul our stuff.  I have short legs, and it was difficult getting in and out of the van without a steps tool and grab bar.  We began carrying what I'd call a plastic milk carton (it was for beer) for a step stool, making it easier for short people to get in and out of the van more easily.

After spending time at St. Margaret school, we traveled to Jaguar Creek Resort, where this Kentucky group had lodged before.

Dining room at Jaguar Creek Resort

"Room" for guests to sleep in

Inside "room" just mesh, no glass to keep out elements or bugs

 It is lovely, rustic, very jungley and HOT AND STICKY.  We ate lunch there (our driver, Ken, had called ahead and asked for lunch for 9)











  The food was quite good with an excellent cole slaw, chicken (first meat that was not cooked to death and dry) the obligatory rice and beans( we served ourselves, hence the tiny serving of R & B), plantains, and cantaloupe.  With it was (bottled) water or tamarind juice (yum)

We explored the area some, it rained, and we headed out.

We returned to the Bull Frog Inn, some napped, some showered, some explored, I read--we had a leisurely supper  and prepared ourselves for our last day in Belmopan/Armenia.

On to Belize

My church has been installing water filtration systems in Nicaragua for several years, but with the impending civil war there and the closure of the U.S. Embassy, we can't go back til things settle down.   This change makes me sad and I feel that we are letting our partners in Kukra Hill, Pearl Lagoon, and Orinoco down, but WE CAN'T GO, go we looked elsewhere for another mission field.

Parts of the system which are brought into the country.

Filtration system

We were contacted in early August by a Presbyterian church in Bowling Green, KY about their Living Waters trip to Armenia, Belize.  The felt the need for an experienced 102 (health and hygiene teacher) to assist their two trained 102  members.  I agreed to join the group in Belize with the proviso that a member of my Arlington team could travel with us and that we'd take a day or 2 to scout around for a place for my church to install later.

I usually take a couple of months organizing and creating teaching supplies for the 3 days of classes during the install.  This time I had approx 20 days to get it all together.  The "Kentucky" teachers (really from Florida, but that's another story for another day) were contacted and agreed to make 50 copies of various sheets from the notebook.  I got the rest of the stuff organized and packed.

A few interesting tidbits about Belize--
*They moved their capital city from Belize City (on the Caribbean coast) to Belmopan in the interior of the country, cuz Belize City kept being demolished by tropical storms.
*Every small village has numerous speed bumps to keep car traffic at a slow speed.
*The cities of Belize City and Belmopan have lots of traffic circles (roundabouts).
*Almost every meal we had in the 8 days we were here included beans and rice.
*There is a difference between "beans and rice"  and "rice and beans"  Beans and rice are served mixed together-- Rice and beans are served separately. (or maybe I have that backwards??)
*For those who care, the national beer of Belize is "Belekin"  I was traveling with a number of beer drinkers.

Our accommodations in Belmopan  (The Bull Frog Inn) were outstanding, compared to what we'd experienced in Nicaragua.  (except for the Mercedes in Managua)  We had A/C, hot water, restaurant on site (food VERY expensive and service VERY slow, but it was available- and we had choices)  with maid service every day. 

The one drawback was the fact that we were locked out of the lobby/restaurant area until 7am.    For those needing/wanting coffee earlier than 7, they were up a creek.

Armenia is a small community of about 1500 with a "government" school of about 350 students.  Our filtration facility was to benefit the entire community, but especially the school.

Kids playing the week before school begins

They have governmental health services- with a doctor coming to the community twice a month and a nurse coming once a month.  We taught our classes in the health services building which had a main room with 3 exam rooms off the main room and 2 bathrooms (partially functional)

 Our 3  students were local health care workers who assist when the dr and nurse come.  We were expecting 6 students.





We taught our classes in the morning and met again in the afternoon for the ladies we'd taught in the morning to practice teaching what they'd learned.

Norma, Odilia, Laura (one of us), Filiberta

Adding hand prints to banner to be left in Armenia

 Didn't always work out that way.

We taught Friday (with Thursday for organizing our supplies) , Saturday and Sunday.  The ladies asked to come on Sunday, it didn't seem to be important for them to be in worship, so we forged ahead.

Community library where we met to paint hand prints on banners.

Friday July 27,2018

Couldn't figure out how to get one home.

Waking early, I packed stuff to be ready for our shuttle to the airport at 10:30.  We had already decided on a breakfast buffet in the hotel for this morning, so we met at 8:30ish , enjoyed a really large breakfast and went back to get our bags together. 

Got the shuttle (it was early), got to the airport, checked in, got thru security and waited.  Flight was on time, and very uneventful. 

A calm ending to an exciting vacation.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Remember when we registered for the hotel, we were given birthday surprises for us to celebrate L’s birthday?  Well, Thursday was the day we decided to wear the buttons announcing that we were celebrating her b’day and she received a bithrday card.  We also got a voucher for “treats” in one of the hotel’s restaurants, but never got around to using it for a couple of reasons.   I think by the end of the day Thursday, she was totally tired of hearing Universal characters and employees wish her a happy birthday.  There were lots and lots of b’day wishes from folks checking tickets as we walked in, the people in the parade, to random folks sweeping the street, or setting up for an event.  As I said LOTS AND LOTS of b’day wishes.  Kinda cool, but a little over the top, also.

Another trip to Voodoo donuts and we were ready to use our “get in early” pass to line up for the

Goblins hard at work tallying all the gold

 Escape from Gringots Ride.—which was one of the more exciting ones.  Again, 3-D, holograms, movement of cars we were on, and hot and cold sensations.  We ended up flying with the dragon as he escaped from the Goblins’ bank.  Along the way, we encountered Bill Weesley, Belatrix Lestrange, Voldemort, the Dragon and miscellaneous goblins.  Great fun!

We waited in line for the ride.

After enjoying the ride, we had breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron , and enjoyed butterbeer.  Breakfasts were similar to the 3 Broomsticks with some few exceptions.  This place offered a pumpkin flan and fruit dish which I tried and was very interesting.

Since the trip was winding down and I still had not bought my obligatory shirt, we went shopping.  I knew what I wanted, and thought I knew where to find it, but it took some walking and reconnoitering to finally find “the shirt”. 



 I also bought some chocolate frogs and  Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.  If you’ve read the books/seen the movies, you know that these candies are very special to folks at Hogwarts.  Haven’t eaten a frog or tasted a (jelly) bean, yet, but I will.

Our Universal package included a photo shoot and we thought about skipping it.  We went and not only had fun, but got LOTS of cool pictures and a CD for free!  Well worth doing!

REALLY FUN!

I looked at adult “robes” which all the teachers at Hogwarts wear, probably because L wore hers (from Amazon) during our foray into Potter world.  Adult robes are partially lined and made of quite heavy fabric and generally cost $115 each.  I could make one for lots less, but for what occasion would I wear the robe?  I do have multiple capes and I wear them, but a robe?  Don’t think so!

There is a tall building in Potter world with a huge dragon clinging to the roof.  It belches fire and roars at times, and people stand around to get a good video of this occurrence.  

 We waited a couple of times, but never got a good action shot.   One thing we noticed about the layout of Universal studios is that there is very minimal sound bleed over.  The dragon was super loud and people reacted, but outside of Potter world, no one seemed to be able to hear him.  Many of the rides had dinosaurs making loud noises, or the Hulk, or Aliens, or really loud cars with tires screeching or whatever creatures being really loud, but outside the rides, the sound is not there.  Very ingenious planning and execution

After spending the time in Potter world, we headed to Jurassic Park
 

Guess who took this picture!

 to a “Discovery Center” with exhibits and hands on dinosaur stuff.  There were dino eggs, DNA information, large , sometimes moving, representations of dinosaurs. 

And she took this one, too!

  A good way to spend some time in air conditioned comfort and keep the kid busy.

There is a place near the Discovery Center with piles of rocks for exploring, a treehouse thing and WATER CANONS.  People standing up on top of the rocks could shoot streams of water down at folks (with their own water canon)  A water fight ensued, first with L just squirting the rocks below, then from kids below squirting L, then Lil and her dad shooting each other.  Just below this area is a “people drier”  which was a large really hot booth which didn’t really dry someone, but make them super hot.  They tried it, but gave up in awhile.  About the time we were looking for a place to eat, here came a deluge.  Even tho’ I had brought dollar store rain parkas for everyone, we didn’t stay dry.  Every place we tried to eat was either closed or packed with no place to sit.    

We hung around in one playground or another (yep, sometimes a chain was crossed) til the rain stopped. 

Not being able to find a place to eat, we walked (no boats available) back to the hotel to dry off and  find lunch.   Everywhere we tried to eat at the hotel had an hour or more wait  We finally walked back to Universal (5-7 min walk) and ate at an Italian place- we were too early for supper, but we’d missed lunch and were hungry, so we had “lupper- lunch and supper”

At the hotel, the guys decided a nap was in order, but the girls thought going back to see the parade at 7 might be a good way to end our Universal visit.

In Universal, N and L decided to do the Fast and Furious  ride again, and I waited and checked out the area.

Having seen a Disney parade years ago, this one was rather lame.  Short, not much music, but lots of dancing girls, and cartoon characters, 

  We watched the parade and then shopped a little more.  Fawkes the phoenix was for sale at the Magical creatures store and L fell in love with him.  We bought some souvenirs for friends and took the boat back to the hotel.  

She was tall enough for all the rides.

 Everyone was still asleep in my room when I returned.  Got ready for bed in the dark and went to sleep. 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

If you’re keeping count- on Wed we did 7 rides. 

Again, coffee and tea at the hotel and a boat ride to the park.  We noticed that tucked into a corner of City walk was a Voodoo donuts shop.  Never having heard of this particular “brand” we ventured in.  Every type and decoration of donut was available-  N’s choice was the apple fritter which was larger than his face—we shared.

Fueled with sugar, we entered Production Central.  Our first ride of the day was “Shrek 4-D --a totally in your fact fairy tale adventure”  Their words, but really accurate.

  After Shrek we enjoyed the Minion Mayhem again, a 3D ride with shaking seats and other sensory excitement..  

A little more realistic (but still 3-D and fast) was “Race through New York, starring Jimmy Fallon”  .  The premise of the ride was that he was trying to get thru NYC in his car before “we” did.  And having been to NYC this year, this isn’t accurate at all cuz of all the traffic.  Hard to race without wiping out, but it was just a ride and a fast and exciting one at that.

We stopped  early for lunch at a Mom and Pop type of pizzeria since all we had for breakfast was donuts and the pizza was pretty good. 

Triple decker Night bus

Remember Grimald place where house elf Creature lived- the Black household?  We saw it, knocked on the door, and Creature looked at us thru the upper window.

Look closely in the upper window, it's Creature.

The red phone booth was in the vicinity of Grimald Place

Even tho’ I don’t watch or even know much about the Simpsons t.v. show, we went on the Simpson ride, which was, again, a 3D extravaganza.

 Followed by the E.T adventure.  N and B spent some time here in Orlando 20 years ago on their honeymoon and they saw the ET adventure then.  After experiencing this ride N told us that it was not much changed from their seeing it the first time.  I’m a little surprised that it hasn’t been “beefed up” with newer special effects.   

We got a really good picture of Lil riding the bicycle with ET in the basket.

This is Florida, and every time there is a hint of rain, or lightening, all the playgrounds and some outside activities close up.  This happens at the hotel also with the swimming pool and the boats.  So there were times when our plans were stalled a bit.

Earlier, N bought 2 “all you can drink” cups which can be filled most places with whatever the holder wants for free.  Keep the cup from one day to another and the “all you can drink” feature continues for half the original price.  There’s no need to ever be thirsty if you have one of these cups.

B and L, wanted to do the Fast and Furious ride, so some of us opted out.  While they waited in line for the ride, N, N and I walked around Hollywood, got some ice cream at Schwabs pharmacy.   

We met and talked with Doc from Back to the Future.  We saw and talked to various cartoon characters as well as the

Penguins from Madagascar.   

 

Lil had NO CLUE who these folks were

Marilyn was flirting with all the men.

All photo opportunities and clever additions to the street activities.

Our final ride of the day was Men in Black, Alien Attack.  This ride had all the bells and whistles of the others including 3D, holographs moving cars, etc, with one addition.  Each rider had a laser gun to kill aliens we encountered.  Each rider’s score was calculated as the game progressed and the high score in each car was figured.  I’m pretty sure my score was the car’s lowest and I know for a fact that Lil’s was the highest.  Hers was more than 10 times my score. 

Leaving the park, we stopped at the Chocolate Emporium to shop a bit.  The place smelled heavenly, but we didn’t buy much.

We went next door to Margaritaville for supper.  The individuals of our group ate Quesadillas, shrimp, Fish and Chips and Mac n Cheese..  and we were home by 6 pm.

After getting back to the hotel, the Thompsons discovered that the pool was open again and spent some time there.